Sunday, April 24, 2011

On the 2nd day of our road-trip me and Buffy left the camp-site about 9am and had another look at Canberra as we drove through the city. We then headed south towards the coast and after passing through The Snowy Mountains we stopped for a break at a Platypus reserve, but didn’t see any as there was a very loud family there who were obviously scaring away the wildlife. Dickheads!!

We continued south and after another 3 hours we arrived at a free camp-site at a place called Paradise beach. Its a cool little site next to 90 mile beach and after a bit of dinner and a chat with our neighbours Jason and Laura around their camp-fire, we watched a bit of TV on the net book and then had an early night. In the morning we took a look at the beach and as we stood taking in the view we even spotted a pod of Dolphins slowly swimming past about 20metres offshore. After all the money people had paid on my trip to see dolphins, it was free to see them today and it was much better for it!

Dolphins - Honest!!

The Camper van we had for 3 days

Collingwood Aussie rules team

Goats heads

Inside Melbourne Gaol

Melbourne from the Hostel roof

Back into the van and we set off for Melbourne. The day flew by as we drove alongside the beach and then turned inland and headed up the Free-way towards the city. We made good time and had ages to book into the Hostel and then drop off the van before 3pm, until we hit Melbournes traffic. It took ages to get through the city and by the time we got to the YHA Hostel, I only had time to drop off Buffy with the bags and then I drove the last 5 miles to the rental office, arriving there about 20 minutes late. Luckily , the woman who took the van back was only interested in whether the toilet was empty or not, so I got my bond back and the $110 fuel allowance, meaning the whole journey from Sydney to Melbourne had cost less than $75 between the two of us!!

After the long journey we went out that night and watched 'Thor' at the cinema – It was good to see the people we mad met last week in Sydneyon film and with an hour wandering around the Casino as well, it was a nice quiet night out.

In the morning me and Buffy headed out into Melbourne just after 10am. It was Good Friday and everything was closed, so we walked down to the Cathedral and then the MCG, where on the training field we watched Collingwood Aussie Rules Football team training before their Anzac day match. This is the equivalent of seeing Spurs or Liverpool training in UK. We watched them train for a while before coming back through town along the riverbank and the city, where we stopped for a bit of lunch. I then had an hour sleep in the afternoon after booking all of our Hostels for the next 2 weeks or so. In the evening we went out for a couple of beers and then to a comedy show as part of the Melbourne Comedy festival. The show was called Man Vs Wil and is performed by Wil Anderson. Id never heard of him, but he seems quite well known down here and the show was really good and a sell out.

On Easter Saturday we spent the morning wandering around the cast Victoria Market. It sells everything from Auatraliana to fresh fruit veg and meat – Including goats heads and live ducks and chickens. After the walk around the market, we had a spot of lunch and then visited the olde Melbourne Gaol, where the infamous Ned Kelly spent his last days and was hanged. It was a good afternoon and included a half hour tour of the old Watchhouse, where criminals were kept before going in front of the court. We were even locked up for a few minutes to show us what it was like.

We then took a tour of the city on the free City Circle tram. We spotted a few things we hadnt seen before, including the 'Cow in a tree' sculpture.

In the evening, we had dinner at the Irish bar down by the river and then I introduced Buffy to real football as we watched the United v Everton match on the TV in the bar.

On Sunday we met up in the rooftop lounge of the Hostel and waited until 1130 when our pick up to the Airport is due – we are flying to Tasmania again, to see some of the parts I didn’t see last time!